My View, Mel Hewitt - Sequels worth waiting for

How often do we hear the phrase ‘it wasn’t as good as the original’ or ‘I prefer the first version’ or even ‘they should have quit while they were ahead’?

The comeback, the sequel, the re-write or the return are often hotly debated and scrutinised. There are some people who like what they know and will return to the same holiday destination year after year. Others think, ‘I’ve been there it’s time to move on’.

Some returns can be a bad idea. Napoleon surely wouldn’t have met his Waterloo if he’d stayed in exile on the island of Elba and, on a lighter note, the renewed popularity of platform shoes is perhaps proof that they really should have stayed where they belonged, back in the 1970s.

I have to admit I’m in the ‘return to the same place year after year’ camp – mostly.

I do brave different shores if inspired by a book, film or someone who tells a marvellous tale of travel they’ve experienced. It was east Devon this year, as I was lured by a picturebook thatched cottage where Lawrence of Arabia, DH Lawrence and Virginia Woolf had stayed, to name only a few!

When I think of the sea though it’s at Scarborough, for mountains it’s Scotland, and my cities are London and Paris. It would take an awful lot of wheedling to get me anywhere else – even a sideways step to Bridlington or Filey would be a bridge too far.

While I haven’t the leisure time or the money to see a West End show time after time there are people who build their lives around seeing one production almost on a loop. I have to confess though that Les Mis would be my choice for a repeat viewing – I could cope very well with seeing that many times!

Happily some fundraising events which were run for the first time for the hospice this year are set to return – complemented by the launch of a rather special calendar, which will see you very artistically through 2015.

The first returner is the highly popular fashion show event, which will be held at the Glasshouse, Kirk Sandall on Tuesday, December 2, at 7pm. You can enjoy well-known high street brand fashions at bargain prices.

The second is the St John’s Hospice Appeal Cycle Sportive which attracted more than 140 riders on its inaugural outing last July, as well as raising thousands of pounds for the hospice. Keep your calendar clear for Sunday, July 5, to take part.

Last but not least, the beautiful St John’s Hospice calendar for 2015, featuring original works kindly loaned by artists from the Northern Society of Botanical Art, will be on sale shortly. This will also be a very welcome return of a new hospice calendar – the first version sold out in 2012.

For further details of all the events – and where to purchase the calendar – please contact Mel Hewitt at melanie.hewitt@rdash.nhs.uk or on 01302 798 391.